January 16, 2013 — At its recent 2013 Midyear Meeting in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, the Executive Committee of the Uniform Law Commission (ULC) authorized the appointment of a new Study Committee on Revision of or Amendments to the Uniform Unclaimed Property Act.

The ULC first drafted uniform state legislation on unclaimed property in 1954, when it promulgated the Uniform Disposition of Unclaimed Property Act. The Uniform Unclaimed Property Act (UUPA) was approved in 1981, which substantially revised the 1954 version. The 1981 act was again revised in 1995.

Most states have enacted one or more versions of the Uniform Unclaimed Property Act. The 1995 version of UUPA was enacted in 16 states, while the 1981 was enacted in 29 states. Even so, it has been 17 years since the last revision. There have been many technological developments in recent years that are not addressed in the current Uniform Act, as well as new types of potential unclaimed property, such as gift cards. This new Study Committee will consider the need for and feasibility of drafting and enacting a revision of or amendments to the Uniform Unclaimed Property Act. The new study committee will be appointed shortly.

Further information on drafting and study committees of the ULC, as well as further information on the Uniform Law Commission, can be found at the ULC’s website at www.uniformlaws.org.

Study committees are composed of uniform law commissioners, with participation from interested observers. Topics considered by a study committee are subjected to rigorous examination and debate by the committee before any final determination on the subject is made.

The ULC, now in its 121st year, comprises more than 350 practicing lawyers, governmental lawyers, judges, law professors, and lawyer-legislators from every state, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Commissioners are appointed by their states to draft and promote enactment of uniform laws that are designed to solve problems common to all the states.

After receiving the ULC’s seal of approval, a uniform act is officially promulgated for consideration by the states, and legislatures are urged to adopt it. Since its inception in 1892, the ULC has been responsible for more than 200 acts, among them such bulwarks of state statutory law as the Uniform Commercial Code, the Uniform Probate Code, the Uniform Partnership Act, and the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act.